Carer's Leave & Tax Credits

Hi,

I searched for this but couldn't find anything.

My wife is considering taking carer's leave from work to look after someone & will be entitled to carer's benefit.

I will continue to be in full-time emplyment so I think I can take her tax credits? Is this correct?
How much extra will that give me per month?

Thanks for any replies!

Carers Benefit is €213.00 pw from January = €11,076pa. She will need €2,215 in tax credits to cover that. If she has any tax credits over that they could be transfered to you.

There may, depending on your income, be a possibility to also transfer some of her unused standard rate cut-off point. It depends on what your income is and how the cut-off is presently allocated. If you are already earning over €45,400 then no cut-off can be transferred from her to you. If you are already earning over your cut-off but less than €45,400 then you could transfer some and thereby reduce tax on some of your earnings from 41% to 20%.

Thanks for the reply Graham.

I'm earning over €45,400 so it doesn't look like I can use any of her tax credits from what you are saying.

frash said:

Thanks for the reply Graham.

I'm earning over €45,400 so it doesn't look like I can use any of her tax credits from what you are saying.

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You won't be able to use any of her unused cut-off point, but there may be unused tax credits. You need to check your and her tax credit certs to see how they are presently allocated. If you have all the married credits and she only has her PAYE credit ( which will almost cover her CB ) then there is nothing more for you. However if she had her half of the marriage credit as well as her PAYE credit then she won't need all of that now and you could avail of some of it.

Hi Graham,

I just looked at my wife's P60 & she has tax credits of €3,660.
Does that mean I can claim the difference (3660 - 2215) as a tax credit?

Thanks.

frash said:

Hi Graham,

I just looked at my wife's P60 & she has tax credits of €3,660.
Does that mean I can claim the difference (3660 - 2215) as a tax credit?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Basically yes once the CB is her only expected source of income for the year. Remember though if she goes back to work in say 6 months and you have transferred the excess credits to you she will be taxed more at 20% the amount that you save at 20%. However you need also to see how her employer are handling this. Is she getting a P-45, if so then all the credits go back to your cert and a deduction is then taken for the amount needed to cover her CB. If she is staying on payroll at work but just not being paid then her tax credits need to be adjusted to account for her CB and the balance transfered to you. A call to the Revenue helpline number on your tax credit certs would sort it all out fairly fast.